What I See

What I See

8x8"

acrylic on panel
sold

Over the next several weeks I will be posting the work/studies I painted while at the Kenderdine Campus at Emma Lake. As always it was a dreamy week that went by all too fast. I met some wonderful new artists and had a great time catching up with those I already knew. Mmmmm, and the food! Glorious home cooked food that seems to get better every time I go. The experience wouldn't be the same if the food was mediocre. Thank goodness the "Powers That Be" seem to understand that as fact.

I actually went a day early because I had to leave a day early. I didn't want to lose any precious painting time as I'm sure you can understand. I stayed at Waskesiu Lake the first night which is in Prince Albert National Park, then got up early and drove a half hour to the campus. This way, once I checked in, I had the day ahead of me to paint. I decided to head to Spruce River which is one of my favorite plein air painting locations. It was a beautiful day and all I my attention went to the beautiful colours and patterns in the river's reflections. I painted four panels while I was there... and may I say I love my panels!!! What a different feel than canvas; smooth and slippery. This painting was done on a panel which I gessoed, then coated in black latex. I settled into a state of complete and utter happiness as I painted for hours in a little nook under the pine trees. A little squirrel kept scurrying by and eventually got so comfortable with me in his environment that he laid down on a branch above me and had a snooze!

A Quick Hello

The summer has been going so quickly and it isn't slowing down anytime soon. We just returned last night from a holiday to Calgary, Alberta. We were visiting family and had a wonderful time. We took the kids to Banff in the Rocky Mountains and it was so fun to see their reaction. As we drove west of Calgary the kids thought the rolling hills were the mountains because even they are more dramatic than the flat prairies where we are from. You can imagine their shock when they saw the real mountains! Tommy was especially amazed that the peaks went higher than the clouds. I thought I would share a few pictures since I don't have any art to post. I do love my country.

 On Saturday I am leaving everyone behind and heading off to my own little utopia for a week. I will be at the Kenderdine Campus at Emma Lake for a glorious week of studio and plein air painting. I am in the midst of prepping my new boards with Golden brand GAC-100 and I can hardly wait to experiment. I hope to have lots to show you very soon. Take care everyone!

View From The Clearing

View From The Clearing

7 x 7"

oil and acrylic on canvas

sold

This is a 7x7 acrylic on canvas painting I did this summer when I was at the Kenderdine Campus. It was done on a  windy afternoon when a few of us went over to paint on Fairy Island. I found a clearing near the water's edge and began to paint a cluster of water logged trees, but that didn't go very well so I began painting just one water logged tree thinking I needed to simplify the composition. Well, that didn't go well either so I looked up and started on the clouds; covering up the second tree painting. But, like I said, it was quite windy and those clouds were a-movin'! So the original sky I started painting changed every time I looked up and eventually became what you see here; a simplified quirky study of shapes with (hopefully) a moody, yet vibrant atmosphere. The curator was really drawn to it the day she came over, so it will be in the show and I am hoping to come up with possibly another painting along these lines that we can pair it with.

A comment was left for me a few posts ago by a talented artist, Deborah Ross, who has been blogging for almost 2 years. Lately she has been doing some really neat stamp and collage pieces that really get me excited. She first posted these experiments on Sept.20 and has done a few more since then. Anyway, she left me a message saying that I should take the word beginner out of my "About Me" profile because, in her words, "girl, you're no beginner". Well, it got me wondering, how you decide when you are not a beginner anymore? I really, really feel like a beginner. Really. I have loved art my whole life, but there is so much I don't know and have to learn; want to learn. So much. I read other artists' blogs and sometimes have never even heard of the things they are talking about. I feel like I am in serious student mode right now, but then, will there ever be a time in my life that I don't feel like that? Especially when I love learning? Do I think I am a beginner because I still think of myself as a student? So at what point do you take that word out of your vocabulary when you are describing who you are? Is it after you have amassed a certain size portfolio? Or when you have sold a certain number of paintings? Or maybe when you feel you have something to teach instead of learn? Is it after you have a BFA, or a Masters or maybe it's once you have collectors? Is it once you have had a certain number of shows? Has it got to do with confidence? I just don't know. Do you?

Comments and insight are always welcome!

Fury

Fury

24x10

acrylic on canvas

sold

This little baby is a bit of a departure isn't it? I think I will put it in my show because it perhaps introduces another side of myself... a side I am still discovering. I did it this summer when I went to a week long painting workshop at a northern lake in Saskatchewan this past July. The class was held at the Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus which is a satellite to the University of Saskatchewan and is the world's best kept secret. It has a fascinating rich history which helped shape the art world in this province for many years. I first attended a class there in the summer of 2000, went back again in 2001 and then along came my kids and subsequently my hiatus. :) I finally managed to suppress my mommy guilt enough to return in 2007, 2008 and now 2009. I love it there. It is my happy place. The place where I am not a wife or a mommy... I am just me. It is a place that is helping me figure out just who that is..

But, back to this painting I posted today. It is named "Fury" and not by accident, I might add. I painted it in the evening immediately following the last critique session of the workshop. I had been one of the last students to be critiqued and had just finished hearing ( from a very obnoxious lady in the class) that I should do something with the big red blob on one painting (it was an unfinished piece) and that my paintings had all been done before and that I should loosen up in my technique (I've heard this comment before). I was stunned into silence and later burst into tears in private with my dear painting friend, Debbie, who said all the right things. About half the class went down to the beach to paint the spectacular sky as the sun was quickly setting. After I regrouped I was so angry. I hit that beach in a serious fury (well, painting-wise anyway). I was all emotion and I laid it down on that canvas for the world to see! The next morning the instructor (and probably the artist who has the most influence on me) said, "Whoa, where did that come from?" I had to giggle because it came from some deep spot I didn't even know about before then.

Now, I am all for critique sessions because I can learn so much from really good discussions, but when comments are made that are in  no way constructive, that is where I have a problem. That is likely why I bristled at hearing the comment Edward B. Gordon received about his paintings being "trivial". How is that helpful to him as an artist? And who determines what is trivial? And why do I have to loosen up? And is there something that is inherently wrong with being tight? And...and...and...you're not the boss of me!!!!

On a lighter note, I was beyond pumped today to actually discover I have some followers! I am so appreciative and hope my little stories and paintings always make them glad they checked back in.